Rants on Cycling and on Life:
Photos of people and bicycles that pass in front of my camera

1.19.2010

word on the street... well... the electronic street

the word on the street is that Montgomery County Police are harassing cyclists on MacArthur Blvd.apparently they have received some "complaints"apparently some of the car drivers have been "annoyed"

what about the cyclist's "complaints?"what about the cyclists being "annoyed?"

what about a cyclist's right to safety?what about the behavior of the motorists on this stretch of road?

it may be time for team leaders to gather and meet with the heads of stateif we could get some intelligent well spoke representatives of the cycling community to point out a few things to the leaders in this areamaybe they can send the right messages down the pipeline

for a car driver to be aggravated by the cyclists is absurdmore than likely this driver with the complaint is an obnoxious motorist who is in a rush to get no where fastokay... rather than my trying to get into this arguement I will scan the Gwadzilla Archives

here is a REPOST...but it seemed to touch on the point I want to make hereso... rather than rant on and repeat myself... I will CUT AND PASTEenjoy!

5.14.2008back to the WAR ON MACARTHUR BOULEVARD

back to the war on MacArthur Boulevard...it is a shock that this road is not covered in the blood of cyclists

the other day I went for a post work rideinitially I had planned on hanging with Dean and Grant while Lisa went to an elementary school functionit was a PTA style meeting which Lisa is involved in at one level or anotherLisa was not in the moodLisa did not have the energyLisa was feeling burned out after a long day at workso Lisa opted to hang with the boys at Dean's soccer practicewhich freed me up for a post work ride

this was good... my body and soul needed a ridethe mixture of rain and adult responsibility was cutting into my prozac... my prozac is the bicycleI need prozacas if you could not tellI definitely need prozacbut instead I try to medicate with the bicyclethe pills of the brave new world worry me

I rode the city streets through Georgetown then down onto the Capital Crescent Trailah... the pleasure of life away from the stress of the car culturethe car-free pleasure of the Crescent Trail only lasted a few mileswhen I hit the Maryland-DC border I got back onto the road with the carsnot more than a mile on MacArthur Boulevard and I was already grinding my teeth and clutching my handlebars

the cars passed fast and closetoo fast and too closesome of the cars passed intentionally close and then cut quickly into the lane in front of mewhat sort of lesson does this teach?the usual brown stars were on their cell phones and checking their blackberry devicesI was hammering at a good pace on the cross bike in the big ringbut remember... this is a cross bike... where the big ring is not so bigso my top speed may not be road racer top speedbut this is understood... as I am not a road racer

there is a bike lane that runs along side of the MacArthur Boulevardbut I stayed on the roadmy pace was too fast for the multi-use bike pathand well... it would be hard to maintain my pace on the bike path

the sand, the mud, the glass would be part of the slow down processbut my desire to respect the blue haired ladies with the blue haired dogs keeps me on the roadI can not help but think that if I were on the bike path with my wife or my children I would not want to be passed by a bicycle moving over 15MPH-20 MPH... on the road I was definitely averaging close to 20that dangers on the bike path are as great as those on the roaddifferent... but also dangerous

so I gave the couples holding hands their spacethe awkward rollerblader need not worry about me... they can focus on staying upright without me buzzing past their sideand all the dogs on leashes long and short were not a risk to me or themselves with their erratic moving aboutI left the bike path to the slow moving cyclists and all the other multi-use trafficI stuck to the streetnot to be inconsiderate to the car drivers and their need to rush home to their two car garages and their ultra wide flat screen televisions within their god awful mcmansionsbut to be considerate of othersI was in fact where I should be

the road is where the fast moving bicycle belongsthe multi-use bike path is no place for pace lines and road training

fast and closefast and closecut off fast and close

the notion of LIMIT seems to be misunderstood when the driver interprets the signs marking the SPEED LIMITthe car drivers fail to understand that LIMIT=MAXIMUMand this MAXIMUM is in reference to the speed that cars should move when they are approaching other carswhich is clear to me that the cars should be cruising below this SPEED LIMIT when encountering a person not surrounded by crumple resistant side panels and a variety of airbags

BMW... the obnoxious driver's machine... we all know that classic joke*HANDICAP PLATE... I am thinking that your handicap is mentalSoccer Moms... respect my life as you respect the lives of your childrenBad Boy Club with your Bazooka Tube... you are not smooth... you are a cheese headthe list goes onethe majority of the drivers were respectfulbut this vicious minority were aggressive... obnoxious... inconsiderate... and most definitely not conscious of the WORST CASE SCENARIO!

no... these drivers are not thinking of the WORST CASE SCENARIOthese drivers have no concern for me or my well beingas I am not a human being in their eyesI am a cyclist... which translates to an obstaclethese drivers all passed me fast and closesome faster and closer than othersmany trying to make a point by zipping back into the lane in front of me encroaching on my right to spacemany making an aggressive pass only to get stuck in the line of traffic just ahead

there were words from my end and honking from theirsthe body language of the passing driversand then the body language expressed by the carsit was all very negative

there was trafficthere are lines of traffic on this road every daythese daily commuters are accustom to these lines of trafficjust as they are accustom to the people on their bikesinstead of learning how to behave around the cycliststhese drivers develop a habit of misbehavior

the road is long with beautiful sweeping turnsthis is a great road for the bicyclist due to the infrequent cross roads and the infrequent need to stopon carless nights this is also a great stretch of road for a motorcycleI do not own a motorcycle

the cars were backed up on the north side where cars enter what may be the Clara Barton ParkwayI flipped off a handful of the drivers stuck in the queuepassing all of those assholes who passed me so fast and so closeyelled a few things at some others and continued on my way never breaking pacethis sort of behavior does nothing for the causebut... I was STEAMED!

their actions that nearly killed me got them no furtherhad they followed on my rear wheel at my meager pace

something about people threatening my life really pisses me off

I was having a good rideI was feeling strongand there were still some miles to hammer outso I hammeredmy day was going too well to let these losers bring me downas I passed Glen Echo I was frustrated with the SLOW AND GO style of driving and the failure of the drivers to yield me the right of waythese things are to be expected

I caught another long line of cars at the Historic Cabin John one lane bridgethe timing was perfectI rolled past the line of cars waiting at the light and sifted into the cars on the road rather than the sidewalkthe car that I tired to pass fought hard to beat me to the narrow passageit was sketchybut I kept my sharp elbows out and held my groundacross the bridge I split the line of cars by riding the double yellow line

past this stop sign I was given some spacemost cars were taking the left to access the route to GW Parkway or I-495the cars were less frequent which only changed the percentage of obnoxious driversand there were plenty of obnoxious drivers

I tried to ride to the right... but when a car passes too fast and too close I often feel as if I need to ride closer to the center of the lane so that the passing cars know that they need to cross the double yellow line when they passthere is not enough room for them to pass within the lanethe passing car driver is not factoring in that I may have to move six inches closer to center to dodge an obstacle in my path

the madness continuedI got more attitude from more driversmore assholes that just do not want me to be therewhy do they think that my being on this road alters their destiny?

I know what some of these people are thinking....WHY IS THIS GUY ON THE ROAD WHEN MY TAX DOLLARS PAY FOR THIS BIKE LANE?well... I already answered thatit makes sense to me to be considerate of the bike path culture and stay on the road when I am trying to keep a fast pace

I roll through the STOP SIGN at the northern point where The Clara Barton Parkway meets up with MacArthur Boulevard.... one two three cars make a slow and go move through the Stop Sign feeding on to MacArthurethe fourth guy is shaking his head as I roll throughcomplete disapprovalhe was forced to make a complete stoplike a complete stop he passes me on the left.... ignoring that he is about to rear end the last car in a line of cars in front of himoddly enough two more cars behind him make this same aggressive passI do not flip off any of these guysthey are out of controlthey have some sort of RAGE that I do not want to contend with

I roll on the double yellow line then zip over to the bike path so I can pass the 100 yards of cars stopped at the Stop Sign at Brickyard Road

then I move back onto MacArthur

still hammering on the flatsmy pace drops on the slight incline at Old Angler's Innthen it happensthat same cluster of assholes who passed me so fast and so furious minutes ago make another passthe bird is containedI keep my profanity to myselfbut the pressure is too muchwhen the last fat ass in the BMW passes inches from my hip I let it go

BAD PEOPLEBAD BAD PEOPLE

my pace picks up as my anger fuels meI have no intent to try and catch these peoplebut I am angeredI am angered that our society is producing such troglodytesto think... they can afford that car... they live out here... these are people making some high dollar decisionsthese people are idiots

I crest the hill and drop in towards Great Falls past Falls Roadonce down and only once upa mixture of not much time and not much strength I head back without repeating the hillsI figure it makes more sense for me to hammer the flats that expend my energy on the winding hill that feeds down to Great Falls on the Maryland side

the ride back is similar but different

there are some assholes...but there are less cars going into the city than coming out

I arrive home feeling refreshedmy legs are workedI feel goodgood ride... bad peoplethe good of the ride outweighed the bad peoplebut there are lots of really really bad peoplepeople that should not breedpeople that more than likely never give in this world but only takethere are too many people in this world... most of them bad*classic jokewhat is the difference between a BMW and a Porcupine?the porcupine has many pricks on the outsidethe BMW has one prick on the inside

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Bikes should be banned from MacArthur and Falls road. these roads are curving and narrow and the presence of bikes of these roads is dangerous to both the drivers and the bike riders. It is entirely selfish to ride on the road, especially when bike lanes are provided. Even more selfish to ride in herds, blocking traffic so that you can have your play time. Hopefully Montgomery county police will ban the bikes on the road and in areas in which a bike lane is provided bikes will be forced to stay single file.

Bikes should be banned altogether. Who needs them? Even those fancy ones only get up to about 30mph. Hell all I need is my HUMMER and Exxon. Anyone who gets in my way is selfish and rude, it's as simple as that. Like these 'cyclists' - don't they know I need every inch of that road for my GLORIOUS HUMMER? And HEAVEN FORBID I am a few SECONDS late because I had to slow down before I could pass (tho sometimes I don't wait for room, I just gun it and come as close to them as I can, if I bump one it's THEIR FAULT). In fact I don't like to slow down for anything including them annoying pedestrians who try to cross the street! I might miss the BIG TOUCHDOWN. I agree, ban them selfish herds! After all, it's MY WORLD and they're in it! We either nip this in the bud or the next thing ya know there will be less TRAFFIC and more HEALTHY people who actually care about their surroundings. F-that.(btw - the bike path along MacArthur is not maintained, often full of glass, branches and most recently snow, perfect place for those stinking cyclists)

if cars slowed the speed limit they would approach the bicyclist in a safe manner... they could then pass putting no one at riskof course looking ahead and anticipating on coming traffic and only passing if it makes sense... so often car drivers feel compelled to be in front of the cyclist... when it does not change their arrival time to their final destination

if the Anonymous poster read the rant (which I have not read recently myself) they would have insight into the notion that the cyclist is in fact being considerate of others... by not buzzing the users of the multi-use pathand accepting having to deal with carsbut... not wanting to have their life at risk

as far as blocking traffic?bicycles are traffic just like carsthey have a right to be on the roadthere are longer lines or cars blocked up than bicycles...

cyclists have to deal with carscars need to deal with cyclistthe differencecyclists do not put car drivers at risk with their scoff law behaviors

as for "play time"

well... people do not have greater right to the road due to their reason for being there

cars are shuttling kids to and from play timecars are headed to dinner or the gymwhat is the point there?

what if my job is more important than your job?does that give me greater right to the road?

that anonymous post shows the selfishness and the ignorance of many of the drivers out there

luckily this person is more than likely the minority... sadly... this driver is out there and may well be a menace to others on the road

It's funny, shortly after reading this post yesterday, I decided to drive up to the Old Angler lot for a hike with my girlfriend. Along the way, which by the way is a very nice and CASUAL drive (isn't the speed limit along McArthur in that area 25mph for the most part?), I encountered about 5 cyclists (on different occasions) riding with traffic. Most of them were going close to 20mph, so I really didn't have to slow down that much. I just chilled out, took a sip of joe, waited for a clear spot in traffic, and slowly passed them, a few of them waved and smiled to thank me for giving them space. Total time lost getting to my destination... who in the hell knows, I'm not that uptight, but maybe 30 friggin seconds max?

My point is Anonymous, if you get THAT worked up over having to slow down to the speed limit and show a little courtesy to your fellow human being (one who is working 100x harder than you are at that moment by the way), then you really need to take a good hard look at yourself and your value system. Maybe switch to decaf, take up gardening? Who in the hell knows, but seriously, get a grip man.

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